Backlash
by Senashenta
Summary: Unicorns have limits to their magic for a reason, and Equestria learns the hard way why. With the land in ruin, Celestia gone and the Elements of Harmony scattered, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle set out to bring light and hope back to the world.
1. The End and The Beginning

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ belongs to Hasbro and was created by Lauren Faust. I own nothing.

**Notes: **This fic was kind of loosely inspired by a PMV on YouTube which I stumbled upon and adored ( /watch?v=-JrLRawqcbA). Go watch it, it's most definitely worth the time. In any case, this is my first FIM fic, and it's probably going to be an epic because Celestia knows it's impossible for me to dream up short, simple storylines. *facepalm*

Most of the characters within are going to be established FIM ones, but a few will be FIM-icised versions of earlier generation MLP characters. There is also one possible OC that may or may not show up much, much later, but I haven't decided on that yet. :P

So, please enjoy and I love comments and constructive criticism, especially since it's my first FIM project. :)

**- BACKLASH -**

**Prologue: The End and The Beginning**

**By Senashenta**

It was the third day of Autumn when the world ended.

It wasn't through war or hatred; Equestria would never fall to that. It wasn't an asteroid, volcano, earthquake or flood, though the tragedy _was_ born from something akin to a natural disaster, albeit one that no one besides Princess Celestia could have ever predicted. From something—some_one_—close to her heart, whom she had taken in, taught, trained—all in the hope that the day she secretly feared—_this day_—would never come.

It's common knowledge that unicorns have magical abilities, and also that many of them attend Magic School at a young age. Each unicorn knows a handful of spells or techniques, simple things normally, which aide them in day-to-day life, and typically coincide with their special talent in some way. It's a much lesser known fact as to _why_ their magic is limited.

Magic, even pure, white magic, is inherently destructive. It's energy is akin to fire, or electricity. Too much of either is deadly. So when a unicorn uses his or her spells, the magic flares against the bonds of their mind, testing the boundaries of their consciousness.

Normally this mental prodding is harmless, but once in a while, it manages to escape.

It's very much like a light bulb, really. Flick it on and off enough and the circuit inside it breaks. Run too much power through it and it bursts.

And so, when a unicorn is born whose special talent _is_ magic, who had no clear separation between the magic energy and the rest of her mind, the chances of a powerful magical storm—a dangerous explosion of energy, tapped from the earth itself and funneled through the pony in question—are great. And this is what happened. The cause of Canterlot's destruction and Equestria's fall into ruin.

An explosion, sudden and unexpected.

A flash, blinding, like a star going supernova; then a dust cloud that blotted out the sun, leaving the land in endless darkness.

When the light cleared, making way to the shadows, the capital was gone, nothing more than crumbling rubble. Princess Celestia had disappeared, banished somewhere far beyond the grasp of those who still remained.

And standing in the middle of it all, surrounded by her friends—turned to stone, eternal expressions of shock and despair, but not betrayal; never betrayal—stood a pale purple unicorn, eyes shining white, glowing brightly, mane and tail lashing in the wind and laughing as her mind lost to the force of the magic within her.


	2. The Princess and The Problem

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ belongs to Hasbro and was created by Lauren Faust. I own nothing.

**Notes: **The Prologue was very short, I know, but I'll go into the details of what happened with Twilight and everyone in Canterlot later on in the story. The Prologue was meant to just give a general idea of what's going on so that starting here in Chapter One everyone's not just going "...wait, what?" Haha.

So, please enjoy and I love comments and constructive criticism, especially since it's my first FIM project. :)

**- BACKLASH -**

**Chapter One: The Princess and The Problem**

**By Senashenta**

Three weeks after the End of the World, and everything was still dark. Some of the cloud of ash and dust had settled, but most was still floating in the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and leaving Equestria in shadows. Even the pegasi were unable to clear it.

After the disaster, places like Manehattan, Las Pegasus and Fillydelphia had quickly descended into panic, then eventually looting, martial law and mob rule. Smaller cities like Ponyville or Trottingham, with less residents and a closer-knit community, fared better, though they, too, suffered many hardships.

Despite that, when she was looking for somewhere to hide, somewhere to gather herself and try to figure out how to pick up the pieces; how to find her sister, how to break the storm of magic and save Equestria from the ferocity of the light, Ponyville was the place Princess Luna settled on. It helped, too, that she had been there before and was known to the populace there—hopefully they would stand as her friends, rather than assuming she was to blame for the darkness.

When she reached the outskirts of Ponyville, Luna was already limping. Flying hadn't been an option, as her wings had been damaged by the magical onslaught at the capital. The left was only missing a few feathers, but the right was nearly half stripped, the skin and flesh beneath scraped and burned, exceedingly painful. That one hung at her side, mostly limp and completely inept, barely even held up from dragging on the ground.

Luna had known these kinds of wounds before—this hadn't been her first time facing off against the forces of light. It was harsh, hot, like holding your hoof over a flame for too long. And as the Princess of the Night, she was already weak against it. That hadn't stopped her from fighting until the last possible second, though—until her sister had used the last of her strength to save the Elements of Harmony and then faded out of existence, taking their last hope of triumph with her.

Alone against the wild magic, Luna stood no chance. Her only option had been to withdraw and, somehow, regroup.

She had flown to begin with, but soon the pain of her wounds and the rapidly thinning feathers rendered her wings useless and she had been forced to the ground. The rest of her journey had been on foot at a slow, dragging, exhausting but determined pace.

Luna arrived at her destination at nearly midnight. There had, of course, been no daylight earlier, but being a creature of the night she had a good sense of when the moon was at its height in the sky, even when it was obscured by clouds—or fallout.

The outskirts of Ponyville were predictably empty; abandoned homes and vacant streets. Farther into the town was hardly any better. Windows were boarded up, street lamps no longer lit the town center, and only the faintest of light showed around the cracks in a handful of homes. It was silent and dark, without even the moon or stars to light the way.

Her hoof beats echoed hollowly along the street, but no one came to greet her.

It was almost worse, in a way, than the frightened reaction she had received during her first visit to the town. At least then, even thought the other ponies had been afraid, they had acknowledged her. Now, there was nothing but silence and stillness. That weighed on Luna heavily as she trudged onward, unsure, even, of where her hooves were taking her. Her first instinct had been to flee to somewhere familiar, somewhere welcoming, but now... what?

The despair that she had been holding back for so long abruptly welled up again, and her steps paused. She half-collapsed on the edge of the fountain that marked the center of Ponyville Square, heaving out a weary sigh and letting her head fall forward to rest against the dusty stone.

"...Princess Luna? Is—is that you...?"

The tentative question came from above and to the left, and Luna lifted herself again, turning her eyes skyward, searching. She didn't recognize the voice, but soon her gaze lit on a small cloud above her, barely visible. A pair of bright purple eyes watched her, wary but curious, and a moment later an orange head and mussed pink mane followed.

"It _is_ you, isn't it?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, it is I."

There was the briefest of hesitations then before the smaller pony stood up from behind the cover of her cloud. Spreading her wings, she flapped experimentally a handful of times, then hopped down and made her way to the ground in an awkward, half-bumbling way that made it obvious she had only learned the skill recently. She was young, her rump still bare of a Cutie Mark, but not quite a filly anymore, instead in the gangly in-between stage of a child and a teenager.

"Hup." A quiet noise when her hooves met the ground and she stumbled a little under her own momentum before reaching a complete stop. "I, ah..." She offered a halfhearted grin, her tone embarrassed; "I'm still working out my landings."

Luna could remember going through that phase herself, so many centuries ago. Now she pushed to her feet, biting back a hiss when her wings protested the movement, then looked down at the other pony appraisingly. "I am sorry, but... I do not recognize you."

The younger mare tilted her head, even as Luna was speaking, then began a slow circle around the Princess. She frowned. "Name's Scootaloo. Guess we never really met before, huh?" And then a pause. Lavender eyes pinned sharply on Luna's wings. "Your wings are _totaled_. Is that from everything in Canterlot?" The question was apparently rhetorical and followed very quickly as Scootaloo continued talking, leaving Luna no room to respond. "C'mon. We've gotta get you fixed up."

The Princess blinked, surprised by Scootaloo's up front approach to her and unused to the bluntness. But then, she supposed, given the circumstances it was probably better that way. So when Scootaloo made a vague gesture for her to follow, then turned and began walking away, Luna simply tucked her wings in the best she could and followed.

"Nurse Redheart isn't here." Scootaloo informed her, referring to Ponyville's resident medical expert. "A lot of ponies evacuated a couple weeks back. I dunno where to. Seems kinda dumb to me, since it's the same everywhere, right? Not like the rest of Equestria's any better off than we are." She shrugged vaguely. "Anyway, so we don't have any doctors or anything. But we can clean your wings up, at least."

There were a surprising lack of any real questions. Given the recent events, Luna would have expected anyone she encountered to have many things to ask her—for them to demand answers, a reason as to why the world had become what it now was.

Maybe, if she was lucky, this meant that those questions would wait until her injuries were seen to and she had eaten and rested. She desperately needed all three. Between the wounds she bore and her journey thus far, she was exhausted, worn so thin she was practically see-through. Her coat was rough, dirty, and she was skinny, having had little to eat since her forced withdrawal from Canterlot.

In all her life, Luna had never been forced to graze before. The very idea was... medieval. Ponies hadn't grazed the open fields since times of yore. They cooked. They ate sandwiches, apples, muffins and cakes. And yet, as she had trudged onward from the Capital toward Ponyville, Luna had done just that; eaten grass straight from the ground. And even that had been half-brown, dying from the lack of sunlight and offering very little in the way of actual nutrition. It had simply been something to fill her stomach and kill the sharp pangs of hunger.

"You look hungry."

Startled out of her reverie, the Princess looked toward Scootaloo again. "My thoughts are showing themselves. I have not eaten in days."

It was obvious that was the case, even to a pony as young as Scootaloo, but she didn't say as much. Instead she made a soft agreeing noise before pausing and nodding in a vague gesture ahead of them, where the road curved off to the left. "This way Princess. We're gonna see if Granny Smith can help you out, and we can get you something to eat at the farm."

Granny Smith wasn't as good as Nurse Redheart would have been, but in her years she had picked up a few tricks. The old mare had patched up Applebloom in the past when she'd gotten scrapes or cuts while playing, and even Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle on more than one occasion as well. She was a little strange in her age, but that was of little consequence.

The rest of the walk to Sweet Apple Acres was silent, save for the dull sound of their steps against the dirt road that lead them to the farm. It wasn't a far distance, really, but Luna still found herself thankful that it was over when they finally reached the door to the farmhouse. It had been just that much more to her already-long journey and her body was quickly reaching its utmost limits.

When Scootaloo rapped on the door there was a moment's silence, then shuffling and a click. When she swung the door open, Granny Smith was wearing galoshes and sporting a cooking pot helmet. She regarded Scootaloo and Luna for a breath before demanding, "who goes there?"

The Princess jerked and blinked in surprise. Scootaloo simply waved one hoof dismissively.

"It's me, Granny Smith, Scootaloo."

"Oooh, Commander! Are ya here to see Applebloom?"

"Uh... not really." The young pony rolled her eyes. "Can we come in?"

Granny Smith narrowed her eyes—then smiled brightly. "Sure thing, Sugarlump! Who's yer friend here? She sure is fancy!" And then when she stepped aside and they moved past her into the house, she winkled her nose and added, "and _skinny!_ Dang, when was the last time yer parents fed you, Miss Frilly Filly?" Closing the door behind them, she clomped off toward the kitchen, muttering to herself about apple pies, fritters and four-course meals, the words barely sensible and half in military jargon.

Scootaloo gave an exasperated noise. "Hey, Granny Smith, where're you going? This is—"

"Scootaloo?"

Another young voice this time. Princess Luna's attention shifted toward the stairwell, where another gangly filly was standing at the bottom; she was pale yellow with a sleep-mussed red mane and tail and wide, surprised-looking red-orange eyes. She, like Scootaloo, still had blank haunches. Looking from Scootaloo to Luna and then back again, her brows drew together in confusion.

"What's goin' on?"

"This is Princess Luna—" Scootaloo was interrupted when the other pony made a scoffing noise ("well, _yeah_, I can see that!"), but simply eyed her and continued; "—I found her in the town square. I guess she came here all the way from Canterlot. Princess, this is Applebloom and—"

"She's all beat up!" Applebloom cut in again, even as she was walking closer. Concern quickly replaced the previous confusion. "Oh mah gosh—Big Macintosh! Granny Smith! _Granny Smith!_" The yellow pony stamped one foot in agitation, then the other before circling around behind Luna and pushing her toward the kitchen. "Yer wings! A-and yer legs! C'mon, we've gotta—"

Luna, rather stupefied at the idea of being physically pushed around by one of her subjects, allowed it to happen, walking dumbly in the direction the filly was shoving her, hooves dragging somewhat on the hardwood floor.

Once in the kitchen, she was half-forced into a chair, then Applebloom scurried off, returning a moment later with a first aid kit and dropping it on the table before hurrying to put some water on to boil on the stove. Scootaloo followed, clearly trying to stay out of the way. Across the room, Granny Smith was stirring something in a pot over the fireplace, still wearing her helmet-pot, though the galoshes appeared to have vanished. Somewhere on the floor above them, more footsteps were sounding. Whoever was still upstairs was apparently awake and moving around now.

With her frame finally settled, Luna took a moment to assess herself—then sighed, weary, and allowed the furious hold on what little remained of her own magic to loosen. Almost immediately her body _shifted_, shrinking, her coat color lightening. The stars in her wispy, billowing mane and tail blinked out one-by-one as the hair solidified and fell downward to her shoulders and haunches, the color fading from midnight to sky blue.

This was her state when she was powered down, when her body's natural magic was drained. The last time she had been forced into her less powerful form had been months earlier, when her mind had finally been freed from the grasp of Nightmare Moon. It had taken time to build up her strength and regain her more majestic form—and it would take time to do so again—but she had no choice. Everything in her was exhausted, and she would heal faster if her energy wasn't being taken up in pointlessly clinging to outward appearances.

It wasn't as if she had anyone to impress right now, anyway.

"Hey. That's how ya looked at tha' Summer Sun Celebration." Applebloom had turned her attention from the pot of boiling water, and now blinked in surprise at the sudden change in the Princess. "Ya know, after all the stuff with Nightmare Moon n' everything."

"Yes. It has been many months sinc—"

"Here, Princess Fancy Pants!" Granny Smith suddenly interrupted, and Luna abruptly found her face so close their noses almost touched. Then the old mare dropped what appeared to be an entire mixing bowl full of oatmeal on the table in front of her. A spoon was quickly shoved at her as well. "Apple-Cinnamon, yer favorite! Eat it all up while it's hot or ya won't get any dessert, Missy!" Then, to Scootaloo; "you want some too, Corporal?"

Scootaloo lifted one hoof to her face, exasperated. "Earlier it was _commander_."

"Not _now_, Granny," Applebloom complained, frustrated, even as she was pulling the now-boiling pot from the stove. Pouring some water into a bowl, she brought it over to the table, then fetched a cloth as well. "The Princess is hurt, can't ya see?"

This prompted Granny Smith to begin inspecting Luna's wings, which was about the time a large red stallion appeared in the doorway. Luna assumed this was the previously-mentioned Big Macintosh. She expected incredulity from him, the same as she had received from Applebloom, but instead he simply took in the scene, looking from Granny Smith to Applebloom, to Scootaloo and Luna and back again, then moved close enough to look over Granny Smith's shoulder appraisingly.

"Looks infected." He offered after a moment, voice low.

"Yep." Granny Smith confirmed, suddenly sounding serious and looking much more alert than she previously had.

Luna had been afraid of that. Open wounds and burns needed to be treated right away, but she had had no medical attention since the injuries had first occurred; and that had been all the way back in Canterlot, before the start of her trek. Her wings had remained uncovered thus far, exposed to dirt and fallout and the elements for a long time. Infection was probably a given.

Wincing when Granny Smith brushed at her feathers, moving a few out of the way to further inspect her burns, Luna closed her eyes. "Can you do anything?"

"Hm." Apparently having a lucid moment, Granny Smith frowned. She reached for the cloth Applebloom was holding, wetted it and then began carefully washing the wounds. Applebloom went back to fetch a second cloth. "Don't got nothin' here for infections like this. These're bad. Been festering a while now, looks like."

In the past, they could have gone to the clinic and seen the nurse for antibiotics. But now there were no medical ponies around, and the clinic itself had been cleared out when they left. While Granny Smith probably knew a few old folk remedies for minor ailments, it wasn't surprising she didn't have anything to deal with major infection. Besides which, who knew how long the older pony was even going to be in her right mind, as she was now? Luna just hoped the idea of amputation didn't come up in conversation.

There was a long silence then. Granny Smith continued cleaning her wounds out, joined after a few moments by Applebloom. Luna tried her best to hold her wings outstretched in an effort to aid them in the process, but she very quickly had to abandon the idea when the pain became too much for her. Big Macintosh, apparently the strong, silent type, stood by and supervised.

Scootaloo, who had been practically backed into a corner while trying to keep out of the way, finally ventured out and climbed into a chair across the table from where the Princess was seated. She didn't say anything, but a frown graced her face. She was clearly in deep thought about something—but what, Luna didn't know, and didn't feel she had the right to ask.

As it was, she was certain she didn't deserve the help the other ponies were so freely giving her. She wasn't her sister—she wasn't Celestia. They owed her nothing. In fact, she had fled. She had watched her sister and their beloved Princess of the Day vanish, and she had turned tail and run. She was weak. She had abandoned the Capital and any hope of vanquishing the light, of stopping the storm of magic.

Luna swallowed hard, fighting against tears again, and was about to pull her wings back, the thought that they shouldn't go out of their way to help her, to help a _coward_, whirling in her head when, across from her, Scootaloo suddenly stamped one hoof against the tabletop. Luna jumped, as did Applebloom. The attention to her wings paused when she and Granny Smith looked toward Scootaloo.

"I got it!" The orange filly announced, clearly excited. She hopped down from her chair. "Zecora! We can go ask Zecora for help! I'm sure she'll have _something_ for burns and cuts and stuff! Right?"

"If she's even still _there_." Applebloom replied, seeming pensive. "We haven't seen 'er since everypony left..."

"But it's worth a try!"

"Well..." A short pause. Then Applebloom shook her head and set her cloth down. "Yer right, Scootaloo! It's worth a shot."

"I'm gonna go." Scootaloo was clearly determined.

"Not by yourself, yer not."

"_Applebloom_—"

"I'm comin' with ya, like it or not. No point in arguin'."

"..._fine_." Disgruntled, but accepting.

Applebloom grinned. "You stay here, Princess. Granny'll look after ya'."

Scootaloo was already hustling them both toward the door.

"We'll be back real soon!"

Luna just hoped that would turn out to be the case.


End file.
